The Brave And The Bold(1955)

Vol. 1

The Brave And The Bold​(1955-1983)

The first volume of the series ran for 200 issues, from September 1955 to July 1983.

Originally, The Brave And The Bold was an anthology series featuring adventure tales from past ages with characters such as the Silent Knight, Viking Prince, Golden Gladiator, and Robin Hood.

With issue #25, the series was reinvented as a try-out title for new characters and concepts, starting with the Suicide Squad created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru.

Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert created a new version of Hawkman in issue #34 (February-March 1961) with the character receiving his own title three years later.

Editor Julius Schwartz hired Gardner Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky to create the Justice League of America. The team debuted in The Brave And The Bold #28 (Feb.-March 1960), and after two further appearances in the title, received its own series.

Issues #45-#49 were devoted to "Strange Sports Stories" combining sport and science-fiction in tales such as "Challenge of the Headless Baseball Team" and "The Man Who Drove Through Time." Strange Sports Stories was later resurrected briefly as a DC Comics title in its own right in 1973, but lasted only six issues.

The teaming of Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad in issue #54 (June/July 1964) by writer Bob Haney and artist Bruno Premiani led to the creation of the Teen Titans. The three heroes subsequently appeared under the name "Teen Titans" in issue #60 (June/July 1965) by Haney and artist Nick Cardy and were joined by Wonder Woman's younger sister Wonder Girl in her first appearance.

The Metamorpho character was created by Haney and artist Ramona Fradon in The Brave And The Bold #57 (December/January 1964-65).

The series was changed to a team-up title between established characters with issue #50.

Starting with issue #59, The Brave And The Bold became a Batman team-up book more often, with the Caped Crusader as the book's main focus. This was due to the popularity of the Batman television series with Adam West and Burt Ward. After issue #74, The Brave And The Bold was exclusively a Batman team-up title, until it ended with issue #200 (in 1983).

Collected Editions

​The series has never been collected completely, but a lot of issues can be found in various collected editions:

The Viking Prince (Joe Kubert) collects The Brave and the Bold #1-5 and 7-24.

Showcase Presents

Showcase Presents: Justice League of America (Vol. 1) includes The Brave and the Bold #28–30;

Showcase Presents: Hawkman: (Vol. 1) includes The Brave and the Bold #34–36, #42–44, and 51;

Showcase Presents: Hawkman: (Vol. 2) includes The Brave and the Bold #70;